François Poncher (1480–1532) was the

Bishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been create ...

from 1519 to 1532. He was born in

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

in 1480, the son of Louis de Poncher and his wife, Robine le Gendre. In 1532, François Poncher joined his uncle

Étienne de Poncher Étienne de Poncher (1446–1524) was a French prelate and diplomat. After studying law he was early provided with a prebend, and became councillor at the parlement of Paris in 1485 and president of the Chambre des Enquêtes in 1498. Elected bish ...

in the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

where Étienne de Poncher was serving as

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

for

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

. François Poncher became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

, taking the

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

in May 1505. In 1510, he entered the

Parlement of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

as an ecclesiastical councilor. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 16 April 1511. He subsequently became

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a Communes of France, commune in Val-de-Marne, the southeastern suburbs of Paris, suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. History Abbey Saint-Maur-des-Fossés owes its name to Saint-Maur A ...

. In 1519,

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

selected him to be

in succession to his uncle

who was Bishop of Paris 1503-19. In 1526, an investigation was launched into whether Poncher had illegally attempted to several

benefices A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, including

Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire (, literally ''Saint-Benoît on Loire'') is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. Monastery This town hosts the '' Abbaye de Fleury'', also known as the ''Abbaye de Saint Benoît'' (Saint Benedic ...

. In 1529, evidence was presented showing that Poncher had conspired against

while Francis was being held prisoner by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He was subsequently imprisoned in

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

in 1531. France then entered into negotiations with the

papal court The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremon ...

to determine who was competent to judge Poncher. Before a trial could be held, François Poncher died in custody on 1 September 1532.

References

External links

"François Poncher", ''Contemporaries of Erasmus'', ed. Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas Brian Deutscher (1986), Vol. 2, p. 112
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poncher, Francois 1480 births 1532 deaths Bishops of Paris